The AskHistorians Podcast
The AskHistorians Mod Team
The AskHistorians Podcast showcases the knowledge and enthusiasm of the AskHistorians community, a forum of nearly 1.4 million history academics, professionals, amateurs, and curious onlookers. The aim is to be a resource accessible to a wide range of listeners for historical topics which so often go overlooked. Together, we have a broad array of people capable of speaking in-depth on topics that get half a page on Wikipedia, a paragraph in a high-school textbook, and not even a minute on the History channel. The podcast aims to give a voice (literally!) to those areas of history, while not neglecting the more commonly covered topics. Part of the drive behind the podcast is to be a counterpoint to other forms of popular media on history which only seem to cover the same couple of topics in the same couple of ways over and over again.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 6, 2020 • 2h 5min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 154 - The Sasanian Empire
In this episode, u/EnclavedMicrostate interviews Michael Bonner on the subject of the Sasanian Empire, which ruled Iran and its environs from the fall of the Arsacid (Parthian) empire in the early 3rd century AD to the rise of Islam in the 7th century. This covers the politics of the empire, its religious landscape, and the geopolitics of Eurasia in Late Antiquity, with discussion of connections and conflicts with Rome, Armenia, the steppe, and China.
Jul 26, 2020 • 1h 44min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 153 - "Hitler Kaput!": The Death and Afterlife of Adolf Hitler
In this episode, P.H. Jones and Johannes Breit discuss their research on the death of Adolf Hitler in 1945. Although Hitler's suicide and subsequent cremation has always been widely accepted within the historical community, it nevertheless spawned numerous conspiracy theories about his survival and escape. Backdropped against the tensions of the Cold War, and internal distrust between Soviet intelligence groups, Jones and Breit trace the origins of these rumors, and the developing historiography concerning Hitler's final day.
Jul 8, 2020 • 53min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 152 - The Chile Pepper in China
In this episode, u/EnclavedMicrostate interviews Brian Dott about the history of the chile pepper in China. This covers the pepper's introduction and spread, its integration into existing Chinese cuisine and understandings of culinary theory, its use as a medicine, as a cultural metaphor, and as a marker of regional identities.
Jun 20, 2020 • 57min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 151 - Medieval Atheism
In this episode, u/Sunagainstgold interviews Keagan Brewer about atheism in the Medieval period. The interview covers examples of medieval atheists, their treatment by the church, and the historical controversy over their very existence.
Jun 11, 2020 • 2h 14min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 150 - Church, State and Colonialism in Southeast Congo
Guest-host Max (/u/Commustar) speaks with Reuben A. Loffman about his book "Church, State and Colonialism in Southeastern Congo; 1890-1962" (2019, Palgrave-MacMillan). This wide-ranging interview covers pre-colonial history of the Kongolo region; the role of White Fathers and Spiritan missionaries; and the experience of decolonization and the Katanga secession. You can find Reuben Loffman on twitter as @ReubenLoffman,
May 27, 2020 • 1h 18min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 149 - The Opium Wars part2
This is the second part of the discussion between myself, /u/Steelcan909, and /u/EnclavedMicrostate, wherein we discuss the Opium Wars themselves, the actual role of opium in the wars, and the fallout that these events had on subsequent Chinese and European history.
May 15, 2020 • 1h 1min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 148 - The Opium Wars part 1
Welcome to the first of our two part series on the Opium Wars! Today I, /u/Steelcan909, am joined by /u/EnclavedMicrostate in a discussion about the development of the opium trade and the tensions between the Qing government and British merchants that erupted into two wars between these Imperial giants.
May 9, 2020 • 37min
AskHistorians Episode 147 - Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women's Activism in Modern America
We have the privilege to speak with Dr. Anya Jabour about her recent biography, "Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women's Activism in Modern America." Breckinridge was a university professor in the early 20th century who played a major role in nearly every area of social activism you can fathom--and here, you have the chance to learn all about her, and to use her as a window into the history of social activism in the 20th century United States.
Apr 16, 2020 • 57min
AskHistorians Episode 146 - The Conversion of England to Christianity in the Early Middle Ages
In this episode, Jeremy (/u/EnclavedMicrostate) interviews then-flaired-user (now newly-minted moderator) /u/Steelcan909 on the matter of the Christianisation of England during the Early Middle Ages. What happened to Christianity after the Romans left? How did it come back? Were attempts made to syncretise Christianity with paganism? And where does horse meat come into it all? Find out all this and more on this episode of the AskHistorians Podcast.
Jan 10, 2020 • 1h 29min
AskHistorians Episode 145 - AskHistorians at AHA
On January 4, members of the AskHistorians mod team spoke as a panel at the annual American Historical Association conference in New York City. We recorded that panel, "Historians on the Battleground of Social Media: Lessons from Eight Years of AskHistorians," to share with our listeners at home! (Some audience questions at the end were edited out, as they were too quiet to hear or amplify in post-production. The answers are still in the podcast, though!) You can read our papers here: https://askhistorians.com/conferences/aha2020.html
